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Please Vote for Missoula’s School Bonds, Invest In Our Future

At Missoula County Public Schools, we believe that every student will achieve regardless of circumstances or abilities. As a classroom teacher, a building principal and a district administrator, I have seen students do just that – day in and day out. Even those students facing great obstacles, both personal and institutional. This school year, I know I will witness the same determination, curiosity and love of learning among all of our students district-wide.

MARK THANE

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City Club Missoula Presents: Invest In Our Schools, 9/14, Missoula http://www.matr.net/article-67536.html

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This November our community will have the opportunity to address some of the obstacles our students and staff experience every day as they learn. A comprehensive facility assessment completed in 2009 identified significant deferred maintenance issues in our buildings, including compromised roofs and boilers in danger of imminent failure. Many classrooms are housed in substandard modular buildings, including several which were purchased second-hand from Colstrip Schools in the 1980s. Increasing enrollments have led to overcrowding; 18 elementary classrooms exceeded the state standard for class size during the 2014-’15 school year.

Our students achieve among the best in the state, but our buildings don’t measure up. Therefore, the Missoula County Public Schools Board of Trustees voted to place two bond measures on the November ballot. These bond measures will fund improvements to address facility concerns in each of our 17 schools. Additionally, these measures ensure that our school facilities live up to the standards that Missoulians identified for our schools as part of the community’s development of the 21st Century Model of Education.

More than 8,900 children are enrolled in MCPS. Passing the bond requests in November will directly benefit each one. Maintaining high-quality public schools is also vital to Missoula’s economy, benefitting the entire community.

The average school building in MCPS is 57 years old. While many are still standing strong, each building requires significant investment to maintain these public assets. They also need updates to ensure adequate learning environments for students and teachers. Given the increase in our enrollment, we have had to be creative about finding classroom spaces. I can’t accept that we have instruction occurring in closets, basement rooms without daylight and other retrofitted spaces. Our students and parents should not accept that either.

In terms of technology, our students need access to high-speed broadband connections without delays that interrupt their learning. Deficient technology infrastructure makes access to mobile learning an obstacle and creates equity issues when our students can’t access the same digital resources as others across the state.

The bond measures voters will see on the November ballot consist of an $88 million elementary/middle school bond and a $70 million high school bond. The bonds will generate funds to pay for improvements in each of our 17 schools – improvements that were vetted and prioritized in a two-year public process spearheaded by Missoula County Public Schools, parents, teachers, students and community members. These bonds will support a 20-year facility plan and allow us to plan strategically for capital projects.

Funds from these bond issues will pay for roofs that are in disrepair and boilers that have not been replaced since the schools were built. They will pay for technology infrastructure upgrades that will connect our students to the world around them – for instruction, homework and assessment. With much-needed repair and replacement of buildings, the school district will save on energy costs, provide adequate space for increasing enrollment and create appropriate learning environments for students.

Without the funding from these bonds, our schools will continue to age, requiring the infusion of additional resources for temporary fixes. Students and teachers will continue to struggle to meet the demands of new classroom practices with substandard technology access. We will know that each of our school entrances leaves a critical vulnerability open and unsolved. Most dramatically, we will run out of space to serve students in our elementary buildings as soon as the 2016-’17 school year.

Ballots will be mailed in October and must be returned no later than Nov. 3. I ask you to vote "yes" for both of the Missoula County Public Schools bonds. Consider it an investment in our kids, our community and our future. It’s the responsible thing to do – for our students and our community.

Mark Thane is superintendent of Missoula County Public Schools.

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